Europe Looks to India as a Launch Partner, With Starlink Rivalry as Backdrop

EUToday reports that Eutelsat, Europe's main competitor to SpaceX's Starlink, is in active talks with the Indian Space Research Organisation about future satellite launches, as the company works to reduce its dependence on any single provider.

Eutelsat CEO Jean-Francois Fallacher confirmed to Reuters that negotiations with ISRO are ongoing, though no deal has yet been reached. The push for diversification is partly a product of circumstance. The company lost access to Russia's Soyuz rocket following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, and has since relied on SpaceX and Europe's Ariane rockets.

India is a natural fit. ISRO had already launched 72 OneWeb satellites on its LVM3 rocket before Eutelsat's 2023 merger with OneWeb, which means there is an established track record to build on. Fallacher visited New Delhi in February as part of President Macron's delegation, meeting India's telecoms minister and regulators to discuss market access. Macron had previously framed European reliance on non-European launch providers as "madness."

The commercial logic is straightforward. Eutelsat estimates its 440-satellite Airbus programme will cost around 2 billion euros by 2030, with launches typically accounting for 30 to 40% of total programme costs, making competitive launch options a significant financial variable.

The company is fully financed through 2031 after a 5 billion euro refinancing that made the French state its largest shareholder. For India, the talks reinforce its growing standing as a serious commercial launch provider, with ambitions to grow its space economy to around $44 billion by 2033.